Draft 2025-2026 Catalog 
    
    Sep 07, 2024  
Draft 2025-2026 Catalog

Legal Studies Minor


The Legal Studies minor provides you a broad understanding of the U.S. legal system, including the role law plays in U.S. culture: what legal philosophies have we adopted and rejected, what is the law’s history, what practical purposes does it serve, how well does it work?

Program Learning Outcomes


Students will be able to:

  • Analyze the interdisciplinary literature on justice, law and American society, emphasizing political questions and social science methods and theories; assess the interdisciplinary literature on international law, human rights and global politics, emphasizing political questions and social science methods/theories; and understand the meaning/origins of international human rights norms/standards
  • Understand the structure of the American legal system, including the court system, and criminal and civil justice systems, and be able to describe the political economy and organizational structure of judicial decision-making, using tools of social science analysis
  • Understand the structure of the international human rights legal system, including governmental and non-governmental institutions on the global, national, and local levels, and be able to describe the political economy and organizational structure of human rights decision making, using tools of social science analysis
  • Use tools of legal analysis and argumentation to address political controversies and social conflicts in American society, and human rights controversies, such as terrorism, humanitarian intervention, cultural imperialism, & U.S. foreign policy

Minor Requirements (20 units)


Required (4 units)


Students complete one of the following courses:

Required Electives (8 units)


Choose one course from each of the following elective areas:

Field Placement (4 units)


Students complete one internship course and may choose between a law-related placement in a government agency (POLS 396 ) or in a non-governmental organization (POLS 397  or SOC 395 ).